Tag: civilization

+ + + LINKS + + + —– Abraham Loeb: How to Search for Dead Cosmic Civilizations When exploring habitable worlds around other stars, we might therefore find planets with burnt-up surfaces, abandoned mega-structures or planetary atmospheres rich with poisonous gases and no sign of life. Even more intriguing is the possibility that we will

Michael Siebert: Linkola, Montana …The forces of industrialization and production will always collide with conservation and environmentalism. That schism will only widen as the terms become more dire; those who are committed to a lifestyle of solitude in the nature world will be forced to pick a side before long. All the pieces are in

FLAGS Via Slate Star Codex: A Reddit page devoted to somnivexillology, the study of flags that appear in dreams. NIETZSCHE 3 a.m. Magazine interview with Keith Ansell-Pearson on Nietzsche: Nietzsche holds that the first philosophers on the planet, figures such as Heraclitus or Empedocles, were outsiders and abnormalities and they fashioned what he calls new

EGO People’s egos get bigger after meditation and yoga, says a new study: According to Buddhist teaching, the self is an illusion. The religion preaches a fundamentally selfless worldview, encouraging followers to renounce individual desires and distance themselves from self-concern. To advance this perspective, millions of people around the world practice yoga and meditation. But

AWE How awe sharpens our brains: Does awe promote a state of mind where we suck up information from our environment like a sponge, with little conscious effort? Does awe disable the filters, created by our expectations, through which we usually perceive the world? Why are some people very awe-prone, and others not so much?

MYSTERIES This piece is a little old (from last spring) but interesting: Cicada 3301: The Mysterious Recruiting of the Intellectual Elite. Cicada 3301 is ultimately a think tank. They do no advocate illegal activities, nor do they involve themselves in hacking of any kind. The group is exclusively dedicated to researching and developing

#CAVETWITTER —What is #CaveTwitter? Plato begins to weep as he shackles himself to the wall, praying to the shadows. You walk on by, each step algorithmically ticcing in time with the nothingness suffocating you; the Cave loves you, kinda. A group of pagans greet you. They’ve stopped already, pure deceleration to the point of minus-death.